Title: Examining the effect of female directors on US firm ESG performance

Authors: Tennecia Dacass; Toni Sipic; Thomas Tenerelli

Addresses: College of Business, Central Washington University, 400 E. University Way, Ellensburg, WA 98926, USA ' College of Business, Central Washington University, 400 E. University Way, Ellensburg, WA 98926, USA ' College of Business, Central Washington University, 400 E. University Way, Ellensburg, WA 98926, USA

Abstract: This study revisits the effects of gender and racial board diversity on firms' corporate social responsibility measured using environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores. We contribute to the corporate governance literature by using a panel of director-level data to conduct our analysis and by accounting for endogeneity using an instrumental variables (2SLS) approach when assessing the link between female board members and ESG scores. We find that women serve on boards with higher ESG scores when compared with similar men. Meanwhile, board members who identify as racial minorities serve on boards with higher ESG scores than their white counterparts. Gender does not moderate the minority effect as we find no significant difference in scores reported between minority men and women.

Keywords: environmental, social and governance score; ESG score; female directors; corporate governance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCG.2024.136643

International Journal of Corporate Governance, 2024 Vol.14 No.1, pp.1 - 23

Received: 28 Jan 2023
Accepted: 29 Mar 2023
Published online: 12 Feb 2024 *